charles chiu and his team and i'd also like to thank our testing partner dr. scott topper.e here today. and, of course my partner dr. mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well positioned to re

now early monday evening, extracted rna from the patient sample was brought to the lab of ucsf charles chiun it was clear, omicron was in the u.s. >> i'm almost certain this finding is only the tip of the iceberg, and that we will continue to see cases in the united states. >> reporter: the infected sample started off in this room and moved to this traditional testing device and finally this nano sequencer. >> it's a microchip that consists of a bunch of electronic, and it's power bid the usb port in your laptop. it allows you to do very rapid sequences. this is how we were able to get a result in a few hours and identify this variant. if we had to do this on a traditional instrument, typically it takes at least a day. we were able to identify the variant within hours, because that's very specific pattern of mutation. >> reporter: now none of this would have happened if that patient had not reached out to the san francisco department of health to tell them that they had been in south africa. this genomic sequences wouldn't have happened and we would have not know this variant is already on

charles chiu is not surprised that the omicron variant made its way into the u.s. >> i'm almost certain that this finding is only the tip of the iceberg. >> reporter: he works at the california lab that detected omicron. >> essentially it's a microchip which consists of a bunch of electronics. >> reporter: his team used this sequencer to confirm it in just a few hours. >> if we had to run this on a traditional instrument, typically it takes at least a day. >> reporter: the infected person returned to california from south africa on november 22nd. they developed mild symptoms on thanksgiving day and got tested three days later. >> the individual is self-quarantining, and all close contacts have been contacted, and all close contacts thus far have tested negative. >> reporter: with much still unknown about the new variant, today president biden will lay out new steps to fight covid-19 this winter. >> not with shutdowns or lockdowns, with more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing, and more. >> reporter: the president is extending a requirement that people wear masks on airplanes, tra

charles chiu for genomic sequences, and then around midnight, the answer was clear, omicron was in the u.s. >> were able to identify the variant within hours, because it has a very specific pattern of mutation. >> reporter: the second half started off in this room and then moved to the traditional device and finally this nano sequencer. >> essentially it's a microchip which consists of a lot of electronics, and it's power bid the usb port in your laptop. what it enables you tow too is very rapid sequencing, and this how is were able to get a result and identify this variant within a few hours if we had to do this on a traditional instrument, typically it takes at least a day. >> reporter: none of this would have happened in f that patient had not told the department of public health they had been in south africa. we wouldn't know that this variant was already on u.s. shores. so dr. chiu said it's very likely this is not the only case of this variant in the united states, just the only in san francisco, andria borba, kpix 5. >>> with the arrival of the new variant in the middle of the h

charles chiu and his team and i'd also like to thank our testing partner dr. scott topper. both are here today. and, of course my partner dr. mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well position

charles chiu's lab on november 30th. >> in this case because of the travel history we decided to prioritizeequencing. >> reporter: the patient fully vaccinated but was not yet due for a booster. officials say the person's close contacts have all tested negative. that first case discovered as the cdc directed airlines on wednesday to provide contact information of all passengers who had been to africa. with 30 mutations and the virus' spike protein alone, this image showing how different omicron is than delta. >> the molecular profile of the kinds of mutations you see would suggest, a, that it might be more transmissible and that it might elude some of the protection of vaccines. >> reporter: that unknown driving crowds to vaccination sites. at some pharmacies slots for boosters booked for weeks. >> the availability dates were getting pushed into next week and the week after. so i knew we would be in this area and tried something more local and that one worked out for us. >> reporter: now, at the start of the pandemic, it might have taken several weeks to sequence a new variant but now with

charles chiu and his team and i'd also like to thank our testing partner dr. scott topper. both are here today. and, of course my partner dr. mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well position

i heard about it, actually yesterday at about three pm doctor charles chiu runs a lab at ucsf and wasted no time the international expert and his team worked through the night to determine whether the bay area travelers positive. covid test might be the omicron very end. we were able to receive the sample in the laboratory by eight pm we ran a very fast molecular test, which looks for what we call spike jean drop out to confirm the finding he needed to sequence the genome of the virus. we used a pocket sized sequence are called banana pour sequencer that this is a. a sequencing technology in which we can go from detecting the virus to being able to assemble the entire genome within a few hours , dr chu says. by four a.m. wednesday they had assembled most of the genome. county health officials then rushed to alert the patient and any contacts they had received a full dose of the moderna vaccine. but no booster. bad mild symptoms and, thankfully have now recovered. contacts have and are being notified by the health department. health officers say the speed of a local lab was essential. the

it was quick action by an infectious disease doctor at ucsf that led to this detection doctor charles chiu conducted the genomic sequencing in a san francisco lab. ucsf says she received the suspected sample late last night, ran a fast molecular test, then sequenced the full genome over and had proof of the variant by four a.m. the cdc then confirmed it well. san francisco airport is now expanding testing of incoming international travelers in an effort to detect cases of the covid omicron variant sfo, hartsfield jackson, atlanta international airport, jfk and newark. have all been part of a pilot program testing some arriving passengers first for the delta variant, and now macron. the testing is voluntary passengers take a pcr test at the airport or take one home with them. the results are sequenced to detect any new variants for more information and developments on the over kwan variant. be sure to head to our website at ktvu .com. a political tug of war over criminal justice reforms is being played out now in santa clara county, at issue to homicide suspects released without bail now a

actually yesterday at about three pm doctor charles chiu runs a lab at ucsf and wasted no time the international expert and his team worked through the night to determine whether the bay area travelers positive. covid test might be the omicron variant. we ran a very fast molecular test, which looks for what we call spike jean drop out to confirm the finding he needed to sequence the genome of the virus . we used a pocket sized sequence are called banana pour sequences. we can go from detecting the virus to being able to assemble the entire genome within a few hours, dr chu says. by four a.m. wednesday they had assembled most of the genome. county health officials then rushed to alert the patient and any contacts they had received a full dose of the moderna vaccine. but no booster. they had mild symptoms and, thankfully have now recovered. health officers say the speed of a local lab was essential. the key thing is with the sequencing right now at the state level at the turnaround time is considerable. many counties rely on the state lab, which can take weeks. but in the bay area, san francisco,

charles chiu and his team and i'd also like to thank our testing partner dr. scott topper. both are here today. and, of course my partner dr. mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well position

charles chiu and his team and i'd also like to thank our testing partner dr. scott topper. both are here today. and, of course my partner dr. mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well position

charles chiu and his team and i'd also like to thank our testing partner dr. scott topper. both are here today. and, of course my partner dr. mary ellen carol. all of us have been working in the last 24 hours with our state and federal partners at cdc and the state department of health to determine whether this indeed is the first case of omicron that has been detected and that has indeed been the result of our work overnight. i want to acknowledge our health officer dr. susan philip. but i also want to emphasize this is not a surprise. for those of you who knew, we thought omicron was already here. we just hadn't detected it yet. so this is cause for concern, but it's also certainly not a cause for panic. we are prepared in the city for this with regard to the case itself. the person recently traveled to south africa and they did the right thing and got tested and reported their travel history. they had mild symptoms and thankfully recovered. contacts have been notified by the health department. and, again, here's what we know now. san francisco is relatively well position